Well, that's January nearly said and done, which means in eight weeks it will be April. The clocks will be back to the right time and the roads should be snow and ice free. Come on!!. However in the meantime its still damp greasy and mucky, but that wasn't going to stop me popping out this morning. 
Of all the benefits of riding, one of my favourites is free parking. In the days when local councils charge extortionate amounts of money to park and especially when my new local council even charges on a Sunday, the benefit of free parking, really makes walking around carrying a helmet a very minor inconvenience.  Today's little snaps. Small toy at the big boys toy shop.

The short rise in temperatures came to an end today and despite riding in conditions as low as -4 whilst working in the City, I'd already decided, that as I'm now riding out in the countryside, that I wouldn't ride if there was a hard frost on the ground. As far as I'm concerned, that's a little too risky as I could easily be caught out by black ice or some such slippery freak of nature. As a result, today I was back in the car. 
However, yesterday was a much better day and it proved to be yet another nice day to and from work on two wheels. I took the two pics below at lunchtime and hopefully they'll give you some idea of just how filthy the roads are down here at the moment. The bike was clean three days ago.

OKay, so maybe in the grand scheme of things its not that bad, but to be honest, I didnt have a huge amount to say. Oh, but before I forget, I picked up my Christmas present/congrats for a new job present to myself yesterdayy. So here, still in bits are my new Ducabike SBK rearsets. Massive thanks as always to Steve at Conquest Carbon www.conquestcarbon.co.uk. When I have a bit of time and when the garage is a fraction warmer, I'll get them on the bike. 

An unseasonable rise in the temperatures this morning gave me ample opportunity to break the 'Blade out again this morning. The only downside is that the roads were filthy, which in turn meant that on the way to work, both myself and the bike got, yep, you guessed it, filthy. Not a riding in the city dirty, but a full on riding out in the sticks, filthy. Less than ideal as I'm still getting home after dark, which in turns means I'm going to struggle to clean the bike. hmmmm.
Despite having very recently upgraded the front brakes on the 'Blade, I was somewhat disappointed to hear the breaks squeaking on the way home. Hopefully its just a case that the calipers are dirty and sticking a little and not that the discs are knackered. That would annoy me quite a lot.
In what will probably be the last opportunity for some time, I ordered up some new parts for the Ducati from Steve at Conquest Carbon over the weekend. The 1098s is still far from where I would like it following last summers crash at Silverstone, but I'll get it back there, slowly if I have to.

When I headed out of the house this morning, the sun was just rising and it was a glorious deep orange colour as it peeked through the bare trees. It was cold, and a little slippery on the roads, but I took my time and didn't make any real extreme moves, making sure to take the roundabouts with an extra level of care. Despite the size of, or in fact more a case of the size of my new job headquarters, I've yet to find the best solution to getting changed. On the far side of the complex there is a gym, but its a good 3-4min walk away, which although isn't terrible, is a bit of a pain if you're having to lug stuff back and forth, so in the meantime there is a very small changing area slightly closer, which I'm using. Its less than ideal, but for the time being it will do.
During the afternoon today a rider was seriously hurt on one of the main routes, which, even by the time that I left, was having a serious affecting on the roads in the area. As I was on the bike I was easily able to just slide past the queues, which was really rather handy. It felt good to be back on two wheels again though, despite being somewhat chilled by the time I got home.

Well looking at ye olde BBC weather forecast, it looks like the weather down on the South Coast will be reasonable (well reasonable for January) so I'm going to give commuting on the bike a go tomorrow. The plan is just to take it steady and try to stay out of trouble. Makes sense really.
It wouldn't be fair to post an update today without taking the chance to thank Matt Oxley who gave the site a little plug today on his Twitter feed. So if anybody is reading this after following Matt's tweet, then hello, welcome and thanks for taking the time to come and say hello. I hope you like what you find.

Well, i couldn’t wait any longer, I just had to get out on the bike. Thankfully the weather yesterday was okay, albeit a little cold, but after a mid morning coffee with a friend I took the bike out. For the first few minutes it felt a little alien if I’m honest, but I soon got into it. I really didn’t have any real indication of where I wanted to go, so I just headed out and when I saw the sign for Swanage, I thought ‘ooh chips’ and with that, my mind was made up.

The ride was really good, but I didn’t push very hard as the road conditions were still cold and greasy, which as we all know, is not a great combination when on two wheels. When I got back home, the bike was filthy, so I felt that I had to clean her up a bit.

Despite no real benefit in terms of time, I still want to get back on the bike for commuting. I think it simply comes down to engagement. Riding a bike is so much more involving, interesting and enjoyable. Yes the car is safer, warmer and more practical, but it just doesn’t move me in anywhere near the same way. Saying that, when it’s cold and chucking it down, being dry is very persuasive.

Well I'm now two days into my new life and new schedule, but this hasn't given me any really opportunity to ride my bikes, but looking at the weather that I've been experienced, leaving the bikes in the garage has been a very smart thing. 
I've also been looking at what I'll need to do to use the bike for work and its good to know that on a logistic level, it wont be a problem at all. I may wait a week or so, but in the meantime I'll try and get out on one at the weekend.

Not a great deal going on biking wise at the moment, so in lieu of that, I've written a review of the 2013 BSB season Blu ray (under motorcycle media) and finished up my review of 2014 (under my articles). For anybody from the DOCGB who may be reading, I'm also working my way through the article that I promised so many moons ago. I promise, I will finish it. 

Well as I sit here this morning, I'm pleased to say the the first part of my move yesterday went really well. The plan was to take pretty much all my bike kit and both my bikes down in one day, unload them and return to London. I was genuinely worried that I would either drop a bike, or they would fall over in the back of the van.
If I'm honest I made a right pigs ear of setting up the ratchet straps, which was doubly annoying when I realised just how bloody easy they are to use, but once I had my head around it, both bikes were securely tied down in the back of the van.
The drive down was nice and easy, but when I got down to the South Coast, it was raining. Thankfully after a cup of tea and a toastie, I was able to quickly able to wheel the bikes out of the van and into their new home. Its all getting very serious now.

In typical fashion, this week I got my days mixed up. I thought I was due to take the FireBlade in today to have the head race bearings changed, but in fact it was due in tomorrow. Normally this wouldn't have been a problem were it not for the fact I'm putting both bikes in the back of a van tomorrow and driving South. Luckily I found all this out yesterday and the team at Metropolis were able to fit me in on short notice. 
What was originally just the one job turned into a few little jobs as it turns out my front brake pads were worse than I thought. This resulted in a quick return to the dealership with the Ferodo pads I bought from the NEC, but whilst Artur was working on it, it made sense for him to install the HEL braided front brake lines too. Bonus.

Whilst the 'Blade was being worked on, I was able to take a Monster 821 out for a spin. As you would expect, its very much a 'Monster'. The engine is fantastic, quickly picking up speed when needed and the exhaust note is highly addictive. The bars are nice and high, but the riding experience was really ruined for me by the restrictions of the pedals and footrests. Artur said that he didn't notice a problem, but Mike, who like me is 6ft+ and rides on the balls of the feet, found the same problems. Due to the casting of the rear foot peg hanger and the exhaust, its impossible to pull your feet far enough back. Its not a problem when needing to change gear or use the rear brake, but the problem arises when wanting to put your feet into a more relaxing riding position. Shame really as the rest of the bike is faultless. 
Finally a little bit more good news, well for me anything. After entering a Fast Bikes travel competition as a bit of a joke, I got my story published in the Feb 2015 issue and I think I've won a Kreiga rucksack. Cool